DNR confirms sighting, will wait a bit on chase
Cougar found cattin’ around
Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel
Author
Ken Cole is a 5th generation Idahoan, an avid fly fisherman, wildlife enthusiast, and photographer. He is the interim Idaho Director for Western Watersheds Project.
We do not accept unsolicited “guest” authors or advertising.
Comments
There are many more where this guy came from. There are hundreds for credible sightings every year up in WI.
It sounds like this is the first one that the DNR will admit to though.
There are hundreds of people in every state, every year that claim they see cougars. There are too many trail cams out there to actually believe that.
four nights ago, I saw what appeared to be a larger cat stalk off the side of the road into a wooded are, here in Indiana. I was told that most likely it was a Bobcat, but even those are rare here.
I wasn’t going to say a word to DNR about it, because 1. They discredit everything anyone says by saying ‘and if there is anything it’s a released pet and we need to put it down.’ or 2. “There haven’t been any xxx in Indiana for over 50 years, and that isn’t going to change.”
Dnr failed to report in some bear sightings back in the 80s. Many people in this are thought they saw a black bear and two cubs running through a field. One guy I talked to also thought he saw garbage cans turned over and practically destroyed. He asked the Dnr guy at the park and was told “No bears in Indiana for over 30 years.”
I thought pretty hard, do I want to sound like a crazy person, calling in crying wolf? (or cougar in this case.) or do I want to feel guilty when this potential Cougar eats a family pet or injures a child out playing in his yard (this was surprisingly only 2 miles from an inhabited area.) I finally decided to just e-mail DnR and ask what it might have been. I’m 100% sure it was not a coyote. I’ve owned/worked with dogs all my life, that was not canine movement!
I’m waiting for the backlash, the DNR agent will call me crazy and tell me there’s nothing there, I must have imagined it etc.
Dnr only admits to things when they have no other choice (for example, somebody gets attacked or gets video footage they want to sell to the news.)
True Frank, but in the case of WI there are cougars but the DNR won’t admit it. That is fine with me, because now the govt. won’t get involved and screw things up if they dont admit they are there. The one that was killed here in Chicago passed through WI and was seen there. I would bet my life there is an established breeding population of cougars in WI.
Look a little closer. DNR DOES NOT deny their existence. They just say the same thing that I believe. It is the same in IL where 3 have been confirmed. Young males move around a lot. None of the DNRs that have confirmed cases dispute them. Don’t believe everything you read. Young males are looking for new territory. Are thy expanding this way? Yes. Is there a big conspiracy covering it up? NO. As for WI, they confirmed that the last one in IL came through Wisconsin. That does not sound like a denial.
Narciissus, I agree an occasional cougar does make it’s way to IN. There was a recent sighting in Terre Haute and there have been others. Lots of people said those that saw the cougar that was killed in Chicago were crazy, but they were wrong.
Folks should not forget this website down on the blogroll as a source of news on Cougar sightings:
The Cougar Network.
However, they don’t have the information up yet on this Wisconsin cat.
The upper great lakes DNR has been denying cougar existence for years because of resource extraction fears. There is a long and detailed account of just how far the Michigan DNR went to refuse any evidence at all:
http://www.wilderness-sportsman.com/wsblog/2008/11/17/the-sad-tale-of-the-cougar-and-the-michigan-dnr/
Thanks Jim, glad to see somebody out there doesn’t think that I’m either hallucinating or that I’ve forgotten what a coyote looks like.